


owl in a summer storm (ca. unknown, water on cotton)

by riverdaze



Series: BokuAka Week [3]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Agender Akaashi Keiji, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Bokuto's kinda a selkie, Child Death, I promise, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Not Really Character Death, Other, Owl Bokuto Koutarou, Past Character Death, Shapeshifting, Spirits, Youkai, an owl selkie, discussion of, it's really pretty fluffy, playing fast and loose with youkai, there's the right tag!, what a surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25852186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverdaze/pseuds/riverdaze
Summary: “How about you? Were you always a spirit?”“Maybe. What do you think I am, Bokuto-san?”“Uhh… I don’t know. Nothing alive, right?... Oh! I bet you’re a painting! A big oil painting,”“And what would I be a painting of?”“An owl! An akaashi-mori-fukurou!”“I see." Keiji laughed to themself. They looked up at the clear sky. "An owl in a storm."Or: Bokuto keeps (poorly) hiding from the rain in a not-abandoned shrine.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: BokuAka Week [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1857940
Comments: 6
Kudos: 54
Collections: Bokuaka Week 2020





	owl in a summer storm (ca. unknown, water on cotton)

**Author's Note:**

> A little late, but I really wanted to write this one.
> 
> BokuAka Day 8: **secret admirer | weather/rain/seasons | magic/mythology/fantasy au**

The rain hit Bokuto’s skin with stimulating pitter-patters, running down his body in soothing rivulets. Summer storms calmed him like nothing else could, giving him something to focus on when his thoughts went wild.

Thanks to the dangers of being grounded with damp feathers, it wasn’t often he was able to stand outside and enjoy the rain, but that just meant he appreciated it all the more when he could. Right now, he had a team of felines guarding his feathers and keeping them dry, so Bokuto just aimed his face towards the sky as a strike of lightning shook the muddy ground at his feet.

…:::*:::...

Dark clouds rolled in, and a torrential downpour started before Bokuto had even noticed. As much as he liked the rain, he didn’t have the luxury of delighting in it right now, so, upon seeing a bright torii gate, his wings tucked into his body and led him into a smooth arc. With a few minor adjustments, he allowed his flight to rise back up to follow the stone steps’ incline. At the top, he found a simple wooden shrine with the paper door already slightly ajar.

The contrast between the pelting cold storm outside and the warm, dry air inside hit Bokuto like a hot towel after a bath. With a content hoot, he immediately shook out his feathers from the tips of his wings to his white and black tail.

If there was any downside to being an owl (and that, Bokuto thought, was a pretty big ‘if’), it was how achingly long it took his feathers to dry. The crows and the waterbirds he knew could carry on without a bother in the rain. Bokuto didn’t have the benefit of that waterproofing. The second his down feathers soaked through, he could be down for hours. Luckily, there was a pretty great cheat to get out of that situation.

With a few hops, talons scratching the floor, he moved farther away from the door. In the center of the room, he tilted his head until the sound of the rain melted away, allowing his ears to ascertain with certainty that the shrine was empty. Satisfied, he spread his wings again. This time, they kept stretching as his weaker feathers shed and body grew until he could wiggle his human-shaped fingers and toes. He used the new appendages to take off his black and white yukata, laying it out to dry. 

“There we go!” he congratulated himself, hands on his hips and voice still somewhat squawky. His feathers dried faster in this form, so he’d be good to go the second the rain stopped. In the meantime, he took a practice lap around the small room, bouncing on his feet, and then dropped onto his back in the center of the space, deciding to take a short nap. 

With the soothing patter of the rain and the shrine’s blanket-like heat, he was snoring in seconds.

…:::*:::...

Bokuto woke up to the morning light teasing at the horizon, and a shadow being cast over his face. 

Muscles tensing, he shot up straight and found a person sitting less than a meter away quietly watching him. No, not a person, Bokuto decided when he failed to pick up a heartbeat, a spirit. His eyes darted immediately to his feathers. He relaxed when he saw the yukata untouched.

“It seems my intruder has awoken,” the spirit spoke in a slow, steady voice, sounding almost bored. They sat back on their heels, the expensive-looking material of a gray and black kimono lined with gold--almost but not quite a montsuki--pooling around their knees into puddles of water.

“Huh? Oh! Is this your house? I’m sorry! It was wet and--”

“It’s quite alright. The storms around here can be quite sudden,” the spirit said with a small twitch of their lips.

“They sure are! I just migrated here with some friends, and I’ve already been caught in a ton of them!” Bokuto agreed, at the same time noticing how pretty this spirit was, dark hair, stormy eyes, and classic features… maybe they were a minor god! “I’m Bokuto!”

“Keiji,”

“That’s a pretty name,” Bokuto said. Partly because it was good to compliment people when you flew into their homes and passed out on their floor, but partly because it was true.

“Thank you. You have a very… apt name, Bokuto-san,”

“Thanks!” Bokuto preened.

“It’s unfortunate the storm caused you such trouble. They are often inconvenient. I hope you are fine now?”

“Oh, ya. It’s no big deal, really! It was nice to stop and listen to the rain, anyway. I wouldn’t mind it at all if being grounded for too long wasn’t dangerous. Plus, I got to meet you!”

“I… I see.” Keiji averted their eyes.

“Ya, I--” The light shifted, a sunbeam cutting across the floor. Bokuto hopped up with a squawk. “Ahhh! It’s so late! It’s bad luck to be out in the daytime, you know. Sorry for crashing here, Keiji!” He ran over and grabbed his clothes, quickly slipping his arms through the sleeves and messily tying the obi. 

“No, anytime,” Keiji replied as the transformation flowed through Bokuto, quickly returning his feathers. He hooted once in thanks as he dove out into the morning.

…:::*:::...

It wasn’t his best quality, but Bokuto forgot things quickly. So might have been Keiji and their shrine’s fate if he didn’t find himself in the same situation sometime later. When the rain started just as he was flying over, Bokuto remembered Keiji’s words of ‘anytime’ and decided to take them at face value.

His feathers were in better shape this time, primaries barely damp, so he stayed in his natural form. In the center of the room--so Keiji would see him right away if they returned--Bokuto wrapped his wings around himself in a little tent.

It was earlier in the night this time, so Bokuto wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep. Instead, he listened to the gentle pitter-patter of the rain, picking out sounds and sweet whispers in the wind. He could almost hear a song in it, and he happily swung his head with the beat.

Just as the rain began to let up, the door slid open to accommodate Keiji.

“Hello, Bokuto-san.” Bokuto hooted a greeting in response, glad to see Keiji didn't seem to mind his presence in the least. In response, Keiji gave him a small smile and sunk to his knees beside Bokuto’s feathery tent. “Aren’t you a rather handsome creature? May I pet you?”

An alarmed, but approving, squawk left Bokuto’s beak. Surely his feathers were all dried up now, how could he feel this hot otherwise?

Keiji’s hands were a little damp, but their fingers were soft and gentle between Bokuto’s horns (or ‘ear tufts’ as humans liked to call them, but that was dumb and didn’t make any sense). Bokuto melted into the feeling, shuffling into an even more comfortable position and closing his eyes. The stray thought that he should be warier of random spirits crossed his mind--Just last week, that kitsune tried to eat him!--but he figured if Keiji was something that wanted to hurt him, they could have done it last time, when they found Bokuto asleep. Instead, they waited for him to wake up, and didn't even try to take his feathers.

“You said last time you migrated here. Is it seasonal?” Bokuto shook his head. “Is it a permanent move?” Bokuto shook his head again. Keiji paused in their petting but continued quickly. “I see. Do you plan to stay long?” Bokuto hooted a yes. He liked to follow Kuroo’s clowder around the country, but while they have moved a lot over the centuries he’s known Kuroo, they didn’t move often.

After a few more minutes, Keiji patted Bokuto on the head.

“The rain has stopped. You should go now if you want to get anything more done before the sun comes up.”

With a deep stretch and a yawn, Bokuto pulled back his wings and stood, hopping from leg to leg. Part of him wanted to stay a little longer. Something was soothing about Keiji, but the other spirit was right, it was time to go.

Keiji stood and opened the sliding door for Bokuto. He made a noise of thanks and took his leave.

…:::*:::...

“May I ask you something personal, Bokuto-san?”

“Huh? Sure! Anything!”

Keiji gave Bokuto an unconvinced look while taking another bite of his fruit.

Bokuto has visited Keiji’s shrine a few times, now. The area was so stormy that flying there for shelter was a semi-regular occurrence. Today was the first time, though, he visited when it wasn’t raining. He’d been a little nervous about bothering Keiji, but it was worth it when he saw Keiji’s pleased surprise at Bokuto’s arrival. Now the two of them sat across from each other, sharing peaches a human had left Keiji as an offering (and Bokuto was pleased to discover offering-fruit didn’t follow the rules of ordinary fruit. He thought it would be kinda rude if he had to spit it out due to his strictly carnivorous diet).

“You’re an animal, so I was wondering how you became a spirit. Did it come with age like your nekomata friend, or…” they trailed off out of, Bokuto knew, sensitivity for the _other_ way one became a spirit.

“Hmmm, well, both and neither. I’m a tatarimokke.”

The peach froze at Keiji’s mouth before being slowly lowered.

“I apologize for bringing it up,”

“No, don’t worry about it! I said it was no problem. Anyway, it was so long ago I’m not even sure if I’m the owl or the kid anymore, ya know? So I’m pretty over it.”

Keiji nodded in acknowledgment, droplets falling from their hair, but still looked troubled. Bokuto knew what they were thinking. It was what everyone wondered after they realized what kind of spirit he was. While Bokuto understood the caution people exercised, he really didn’t mind talking about it.

“I was never a vengeful spirit or anything. I wasn’t killed. I was just an itty bitty thing when I died, and ‘cause I didn’t get a proper burial, my soul dislodged and got stuck in this owl that was passing by… I think.” He scratched his head. “That, or I’m the owl who got this kid’s soul tangled in my body while I was minding my own business,” he laughed. “I don’t know. I can talk a lot more now and understand things more than I did then, so I kind of think our souls mixed, and now I’m one bird! And I love being an owl. I wouldn’t trade it for anything!”

“But do you remember what it was like to be a human? I’ll admit I don’t understand most living things. Much less those creatures,”

“Eh, no, not really.” he shrugged apologetically. Humans were weird, even for him. “Like I said, I was too small. The only thing I remember any was the last day,”

“Does it bother you?” Keiji asked carefully.

“Not even a little bit. I barely even noticed, to be honest. Everyone was rushing inside because it started to drizzle, and no one was watching me, or they were distracted. I was fascinated by the rain, and I wandered out into the woods as it began to pour. It was so wet and slippery, and I wasn’t very good at walking, yet. So I don’t even know when exactly I passed. Just that one moment, I was stumbling around in the mud, and the next, I saw a grounded owl and thought it would be really fun to chase it. Even when I caught it, I don’t think I really understood. I just thought it was cool that I had feathers now. The other stuff came later,”

“You died in the rain.” Something was alarming about how flat Keiji’s expression was. Bokuto knew they were upset by the story, though, because the fruit bruised in their tight grip.

“Uh huh,”

“You told me you liked the rain. Was that a platitude?”

“No, I do. I get that it’s kinda weird. Kuroo says so, too. But like I said, my death never really bothered me. It was just the day I grew feathers and learned to fly. As far as I remember, it was the day I was born." He smiled, clapping his hands. "And hey! Maybe the kid wouldn’t have been able to catch the owl and merge the two halves of my soul if it hadn’t been for the rain downing it,”

“I see…” Keiji said, brow furrowing. It’s a better expression than their apathetic one. There’s more to work with, at least.

“How about you, Keiji? Were you always a spirit, or are you the remains of something?”

“Hmm. What do you think, Bokuto-san?”

“Uhh… I don’t know. At first, I thought you might be a god?”

“Me?” Keiji said with a hint of surprise. “No, nothing so lofty, I’m afraid,”

“You could be a tree, then. You’re steady like that. Oh, but you’re not alive, are you? Maybe an abandoned tea collection or something like that? One with a really expensive teapot all covered in gold!”

“A tea set? What would I be doing in the middle of the woods? And why would I have a shrine like this?” Keiji said, amusement in their eyes.

“Oh! That’s a good point. But maybe you just found this shrine. Was it built for you?”

“No, you’re right, it wasn’t. Not exactly. I just pass through every summer,”

“There you go, then. I bet you’re a painting. A big oil painting with dark colors and a mysterious past.” To demonstrate his point, Bokuto arched his hands through the air like he was painting a rainbow.

“And what am I a painting of?” Keiji asked with an amused smile.

“Hmmm.” Bokuto perked up after a bit of thought. “An owl, of course! An akaashi-mori-fukurou! You have eyes like one.”

Keiji's amusement broke out into a laugh. It was a sight to see. The happiness lit every part of their frame until it almost seemed like they were floating. They were beautiful, and there was something so wonderfully familiar about the musical rhythm of their laughter. 

“An owl in a storm," Keiji said to the clear night sky as moonlight flooded the room. "Alright, but not an oil painting. I like watercolor.” Keiji turned back to Bokuto.

“Okay!... So I’m right?”

“Not quite,”

“Aww, aren’t you going to tell me?” Bokuto whined.

“Maybe next time,”

The conversation moved on to other things.

…:::*:::...

Bokuto sat on a tree wearing his human skin, yukata sticking to it with rainwater.

It was early morning, and he’d been about to go to sleep in his nest when it started to rain, so he’d decided to climb out onto a branch to enjoy it. Thunder rumbled, starting far and getting louder as it approached; a blanket of sound. He hummed with the patter of the rain navigating through the leaves and smacking against the ground.

“Hello, Bokuto-san.”

Bokuto squawked in alarm at the proximity of the voice. He turned to find Keiji sitting beside him on the tree branch, looking awake and energized in a way they usually didn’t.

“Keiji! What are you doing here?”

“I thought it was time I visited you at your home… if that was alright,”

“No, it’s great! I’m happy!” Bokuto assured, said emotion filling him as the alarm receded. 

“Good. I’m glad.” There was something different about Keiji’s voice, too. It was more robust, like every time Bokuto heard it previously, it had been hoarse. Now it almost echoed, clear through the rain even though Keiji didn’t look like they were yelling.

Kicking his feet, Bokuto studied Keiji, noticing how the rain disappeared when it hit them, leaving them dry even in the storm. That was weird because Bokuto had never seen Keiji completely dry.

“It’s a perfect storm today,” Bokuto said.

“Do you think so?”

“Ya. It’s beautiful.” Keiji was already looking at the sky, but now they turned to look even further away from Bokuto.

Their hand was flat on the branch between them.

Bokuto looked at it, and then the back of Keiji’s head, and then back at it. He realized he was wrong about the rain. It wasn’t disappearing; it was sinking into Keiji wherever it hit them. Keiji wasn’t dry; they were made of water.

Bokuto put their hand on Keiji’s. It was cold but full of electricity, lightning.

Keiji’s head snapped towards him.

“You’re beautiful,” Bokuto said in revelatory awe, the truth almost overwhelming. Keiji gave a bashful smile, and Bokuto’s heart skipped a beat.

“I’m sorry,” they said.

“Huh? Why?”

“You bathed in me, once. You stood out in the open and seemed so content to let the water hit you. I wanted to meet you again, in a more mutual way. So whenever I saw you passing by my home…”

When Bokuto understood, he laughed, loud and in tune with the thunder. Keiji tried to pull their hand out from Bokuto’s.

“No, wait! I’m not laughing at you. I’m happy! I must be really great, since you kept raining on me, huh? I guess I’m pretty awesome.” Keiji gave him a deadpan look. Bokuto laughed again, scooting closer and pressing his thigh against theirs, putting their two interwoven hands on top.

“Hey, you said you’re passing through, right?” Bokuto asked.

“Yes,”

“Where are you going next?”

“Wherever the wind takes me…. That wasn’t poetic. I'm being very literal.” Now that he knew, Bokuto understood the way Keiji's voice didn't lift over the rain, but existed through it. Their words were an echo of thunder and raindrops, the natural music of the storm.

“Well, it’s a good thing I can fly, then! I can go wherever the wind does, too!”

Keiji’s hand squeezed Bokuto’s.

“I… would like that.”

The two sat in content harmony, looking up at the dark morning sky: the owl and the summer storm.

**Author's Note:**

> Akaashi revealed to have been pinning seems to be a common theme of mine... sorrynotsorry  
> also, yes, Bokuto did just fall asleep naked in someone else's house. he has zero shame.


End file.
